All-Ukrainian initiative "Let’s Change the System of the Obstetrics Aid in Ukraine Together!"

Dear friends!

Now we have are alandunique opportunity to break up the monopoly of ou rmaternity hospitals and to createan alternative for them, but wes hould actpromptly. Every woman, who is not satisfied withthe maternity hospitals in her region, can help.

Any woman in Ukraine!

On February10,2015, OlgaVyshkina (with several physicians of the Movement for Natural Birth) visited the meeting with the Minister of Health of Ukraine and his Strategic Advisory Group concerning the reformation of the public health services in Ukraine (their website //healthsag.org.ua). They talked about the reformation of the system of public health services in Ukraine. From now on, the physicians of the first group (our local doctors, who provide domiciliary care, general practitioners) will work as dentists – officially on a paying basisunder a license. And many more changes are under consideration.

Olga asked the experts:‘Do they suppose any new strategy forthe reformation and deregulation of obstetrics aid system? Are they thought to establishmidwifery centers, to license home midwifery or at least license private maternity hospitals’? AndriyGhuk, one of the experts, answeredherthat “we havean «advancedand excellent system of obstetrics aid.” He said,thatEuropean obstetrics centers were historicallyformed with the view of cost saving, alleging that this was aretrogradestep and the regress of obstetrics aid system.  Whereas Ukraine hasadmirable perinatal centers and maternity hospitals available, the statistics is good and there is no reasonable basis for the reformation of this branch.  «YET,if society wants it, it will get it!»

Here is Olga’s point. We’reconvinced that this is high-time(in the nearest month or two) for people to show the Ministry and this Strategic Advisory Group that there isa number of mothers in Ukraine, who want to have a choice for their deliveries, and it is quite possible that we will be heard. The initiative groupof the speakers of the Festival «Miracle in the Heart»is already formed, and we have a unique opportunitytomeet AlexanderKvitashvili, the Minister of Health of Ukraine in a month and a half or two.We should be well prepared for this meeting,butto act promptly in the same time, as the Strategy will be rendered by the Ministry to VerkhovnaRada(Ukrainian Parliament)in April 2015!

We, Olga and Svitlana, two conscious moms and the organisers of the First International On-Line Festival ‘Miracle in the Heart’, decided to involve as many active moms and experts as possibleinto this issue, and then to «change the world» by joint efforts .

We invited the best and cordial speakers toa video-conferencedevoted to alternative maternity hospitals.You can seethe detailshere. We have alsooutlined the results of the conference discussion and drawn up the Memorandumon that page. Now it should be shown to the Ministry of Health, that he is a social demand for the alternative to maternity hospitals.

We suggest going this way:

Step 1.February 23 – 25,2015. Persistently and in an organized waywe make it clear forthe Ministry andStrategic Advisory Group, that the society is looking for changes, andthere aremany people are displeased with deliveriesin maternity hospitals. This is why we organize a kind of a flashmob:«Tell our Minister about your “Remarkable” Delivery at a Maternity Hospital and Offer an Alternative!».